Purpose – The aim of this paper is to introduce the second part of the theme issue on “user research and technology” and to discuss testing online digital library resources using methods from ethnography and cultural anthropology.
Design/methodology/approach – This editorial reviews the literature and research design methods.
Findings – Library and information science as a field is changing and the requirements for top quality research are growing more stringent. This is typical of the experience of other professional fields as they have moved from practitioners advising practitioners to researchers building on past results.
Originality/value – The results of current research need not merely be interesting, but in so far as possible, testable and reproducible.